Tia Mowry-Hardrict recently opened up about her experience as a biracial child star in the '90s and details of her pay on the sitcom
Sister, Sister. *cue theme song:
Sister,
sister. Never knew how much I missed ya!*In a new episode of Tia Mowry's Quick Fix web series, she reflects on her time growing up as a child star and says that it was "very evident" for her when she would walk onto any set and see how "certain stars or actors would be treated who weren't of ethnicity."She claimed that those stars would get better dressing rooms and trailers but now she's more aware of things that she didn't know in her early days of acting. "Back then I didn't know what a budget was and it was so clear how you would see one show that didn't have a diverse cast that just had a bigger budget so everything seemed bigger and better," she explained.
The Game alum said when it came to her projects, "you actually really visually saw the less-than. It was even with pay." Tia mentioned that it happened with her hit sitcom,
Sister, Sister, which starred Tia and her sister Tamera who played twins separated at birth, with each being adopted by a different parent. Eventually, the twins meet at the mall and in a strange twist of events, Tamera's adoptive father allows Tia and her mom to move into his home so the twins can grow up together.Tia said that it's "very normal to ask for a raise" once a show becomes a hit but that wasn't the case with
Sister, Sister. "But it was always so hard for my sister and I to get what we felt like we deserved and our paycheque never equaled our counterparts' that weren't of diversity," the actress claimed, adding that it was "very, very frustrating."She said that the way she was treated in Hollywood was how she built her own work ethic and that she's always had to work harder and be better than average. Tia believes that if she didn't have those experiences she wouldn't be the hardworking actress and businesswoman she is today.
Mowry said she experienced issues with casting directors who told her she wasn't "Black enough" for certain roles and suggested she would be a fit for more Latin roles. "It's like, what? These were casting directors who did not understand the different shades of Black culture," she said, before adding that she hated being told to be more "sassy" or have "more attitude" when she was portraying different characters.[video_embed id='1992047']RELATED: The importance of representation in children’s literature[/video_embed]She applauded her experiences on shows like
Sister, Sister and
The Game because of the importance of representation. Tia reflected on
Sister, Sister fans approaching her in public and telling her she inspired them to rock their naturally curly hair and to be themselves because it was a representation of something they hadn't seen before on TV. "Knowing that I was able to help young Black girls believe in themselves and believe that they are beautiful and valued really makes me feel happy," she said.Tia said that she loves working with Netflix on her current show
Family Reunion because the streaming service "really shows how they value the African American culture." She admitted that she and sister Tamera would straighten their hair once they got older because they wanted to be viewed as "sexy" but when she was working on
Sister, Sister, she wore her hair curly. "I went on to do so many other television shows and I would always wear my hair straight because I was insecure about my curly hair," Tia explained. "These insecurities came because I didn’t see these images, meaning women with curly hair and their natural hair, being portrayed as beautiful.”The former
Tia Mowry at Home host remembered a time where her sister went on an audition and she didn't book the part because the casting director told her that her hair was a distraction... come again? Hearing that made her feel insecure at the time, but now working on
Family Reunion is the total opposite—the executive producer encourages her to show off her natural curls.Tia said that for
Sister, Sister to have "two young Black girls being the star of their own show spoke volumes" which she is forever grateful to have had that opportunity.And we are forever grateful because
Sister, Sister just hit Netflix on November 6th. Now if only a streaming service would pick up
The Game so we can rewatch Tia's Dr. Melanie Barnett-Davis fall in and out of love with San Diego Sabers wide receiver Derwin Davis all over again.
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